Tuesday, July 8, 2008

UFC 86 Main Card: I was wrong

Griffin vs AurelioWhile this was a decent fight that featured all aspects of MMA (striking, wrestling, & jui-jitsu), it didn't live up to my expectations. I expected it to be a lot faster paced with a lot more on the ground. Didn't live up to expectations, but still decent.

Koscheck vs LytleI should be saying that this fight was better than expected because it shouldn't have gone the distance, but the end of the 2nd round & entire 3rd painful to watch. From about the 3 minute mark in the 2nd round until the end of the fight, I was waiting for the ref or ringside doctor to step in stop the fight. Lytle had a cut right above his eye that Rogan informed us was the size of a "goat's vagina." He was a bloody tired mess. I give Lytle a lot of credit for staying in the fight, but it should have been stopped. Seriously, was the ringside physician in line at the bar during this fight?

Stevenson vs TibauBest main card fight, and coincidentally the only one that didn't go to a decision. A lot a solid ground work and submission skills. Solid fight.

Despite what the UFC says, this fight wasn't tactical, it was uneventful.

Cote looked like the guy that started his UFC career 0-4, and Almeida looked like someone coming off a 4 year layoff.

Let's look at this round-by-round:First round - Decent action, Almeida shows off some solid ground skill. Cote manages to escape.Second round - Cote moves forward & Almeida backs up for 5 straight minutes.Third round - I didn't know 5 minutes could feel so long. Cote wins this round by landing 2 leg kicks. Those 2 leg kicks are the only action in the entire round. It was like watching the wood-cutter's tale of the sword fight in "Rashomon" or the 2 gangs squaring off while Mifune watches from the tower in "Yojimbo."

It was bad enough that Almeida fell onto my "I won't pay to watch" list & Cote is now really close to making the list. I'm sparing Cote because of his fight history.

Heck, even Dana White called it a boring fight. He also said that Cote will get a title shot. Which begs the question, what the hell does White have against Okami? Did Okami run over White's dog, repeatedly? Okami doesn't get a title shot because he's seen as boring fighter, but Cote gets a title shot after putting together a snooze-fest for the ages? That's messed up.